Country Vacations & Resorts

Time in Office: 1853 – 1857
Terms: One
Birthday: November 23, 1804
Birth Place: Hillsborough, New Hampshire
Date of Death: October 8, 1869
Place of Death: Concord, New Hampshire
Buried: Minot Enclosure in the Old North Cemetery of Concord, New Hampshire.

Notes:
~ Only President from New Hampshire
~ First President born in the nineteenth century
~ Fifth of eight children
~ Popular man but not a popular President
~ His son died tragically at age 11*
~ “Affirmed” his oath of office versus swearing it
~ Memorized his inaugural address
~ Had no Vice President for most of his term

America’s 14th President, Franklin Pierce, was born in a log cabin in Hillsborough, New Hampshire – the site which is now under Franklin Pierce Lake. His father was a two-term governor of New Hampshire and though Franklin had a rough start as a student, he entered Bowdoin College in 1820.

Taking part in political and debating clubs, two of Franklin’s closest friends were the writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne and poet and educator, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He entered law school in 1826 and by 1827, opened his first law practice in Concord, New Hampshire.

Politics came into play by 1828 when Pierce became a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. He served various political positions from 1828 to 1847 when he turned down the nomination for Governor and also refused President Polk’s offer of appointment as Attorney General of the United States.

Pierce married Jane Means Appleton in 1834. His wife was shy, detested Washington, DC and political life, and by 1842 she had convinced her husband to return full time to his law practice in Concord. *A tragic train accident just months before the inauguration took the life of the family’s only surviving child who was still only 11. Jane Pierce never really recovered.

Franklin Pierce – Mexican-American War

Franklin enlisted in the volunteer services during the Mexican-American war. By March 1847 he was a Brigadier General and taking part in the march on Mexico City. Having to leave the field at the Battle of Churubusco due to a leg injury, Franklin soon returned to battle and was by all accounts a successful military commander.

“We Polked you in 1844; we shall Pierce you in 1852!”

So went the Democratic slogan during the Presidential campaign of 1852 and “pierce” them they did! At the time of his inauguration in 1853, Franklin Pierce was the youngest man (at 48), to hold office – a record he held until the election of Ulysses S. Grant.

Travel in 1850s America

Map: Charting Modernization

Although a few new modes of travel have been added, many who traveled in the early 1850s still rode horseback, or horse and buggy. By now, some railroad systems were in operation (31,000 miles by 1860), and steamboats and smaller vessels on smaller bodies of water were used on a regular basis.

Later Years

Pierce was an involved, but not a truly effective President. At a time when the nation was somewhat calm economically, conflict over the issues of slavery were escalating. Radical differences between parties and questions on annexation (or not), of Cuba were focused mainly on the question of pro-slavery versus non-slavery factions. Pierce, by not taking a strong stance on this and other issues facing the nation, appeared to be at the whim of the more aggressive politicians and political insiders. A review of the Gadsden Purchase and the Kansas-Nebraska Act provide prime examples of the political atmosphere in of the time.

In 1856, Pierce was not nominated for re-election and he took this time off to travel overseas with his wife who was unwell. They traveled in the West Indies, Southern Europe, and the Caribbean – hoping the warm climates might cure Jane’s tuberculosis. She died of the disease in 1863.

In 1864, Franklin Pierce refused the proposed Presidential nomination and in 1869, having spent less and less time in the public eye, he died at his home in Concord, New Hampshire.

Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, New Hampshire.

Vacation Rentals in New Hampshire:

Next, America’s 15th President, James Buchanan.